Renting Out Your Home to Travel with a Baby: What It's Actually Like
We listed our Wiltshire cottage on Airbnb, accepted a long-stay booking, prepped the house with a 14-month-old destroying everything we tidied, and left for months. Here's the full timeline, the financial reality, the emotional side, and exactly what you need to do to get your house ready for guests.
Why We Did It
We'd been unhappy in our cottage for months. Isolated, bored, stuck in a village where we hadn't made a single friend in two years. We had a baby who thrived around people and we were raising her in the quietest place in England.
Selling the house was Plan A. We put it on the market, had four viewings in four months, and nothing happened. We'd overpriced it because we needed a certain amount to make the numbers work. While it sat there, we listed it on Airbnb almost as an experiment.
Within weeks, the interest started coming in. And suddenly the plan shifted from "sell and leave" to "rent it out and go now."
The Airbnb Timeline
This wasn't a clean, decisive process. It was messy and full of false starts.
- The casual listing. We put the house on Airbnb without much thought. Bare-bones profile, no professional photos, price too low. Months of nothing.
- The proper attempt. Updated the profile properly, set a realistic price, better photos. Interest flooded in immediately.
- The rejections. A two-month request came in first. Then a three-month one. Then someone wanted it for a year. We turned them all down because at those prices we were only covering costs, and we couldn't find the right apartment in Thailand to make leaving worthwhile.
- The one we accepted. A lady reached out saying it was the perfect property for her work project. She wanted three months with a potential extension. At this price, we weren't just covering costs — we were making money.
"We put it on and then didn't take it serious for a few months. And then it was only when we really updated the profile on Airbnb, set a proper price, that we started getting a lot of interest."
— Leila
Making the Numbers Work
Our mortgage is at 7.4% — don't ask. The monthly payments plus bills add up fast. The first enquiries we got on Airbnb would have only covered those costs, which meant we'd have been paying to live somewhere else with nothing left over. That's not travelling — that's just moving the problem.
We rejected those bookings and held out for a price that actually made money. When it came, the rental income covered the mortgage, all the bills, and contributed towards our expenses abroad. After tax it's not as much as it sounds, but the key point is: we're not haemorrhaging money by being away.
Our first month in Benidorm is €2,754 for a luxury apartment. That's deliberately expensive — we're testing what good feels like first. The budget comes down from month two onwards.
The financial model in simple terms
Getting the House Ready: The Full Checklist
This was more work than we expected. Here's everything we actually had to do:
Keys
- Guest set — for the tenant
- Family set — so someone nearby can access in emergencies
- Cleaner set — for the end-of-stay clean
Bedding & Linen
- Two new sets of bedding (not our existing stuff)
- Fresh towels, clean throws, everything washed and ready
- A welcome hamper with basics
Deep Clean
- Deep cleaned the kitchen once, then had to do it again before leaving
- Stocked cleaning products for the guests
- Tip run — car full of stuff we would have kept but decided to declutter
The Handbook
- Bin collection days
- Boiler instructions (Hive — press a button)
- Fire Stick and WiFi details
- Hot tub and barbecue instructions
- Local info — shops, parking, anything useful
Personal Items
- Clothes and personal stuff bagged up and put in the loft
- Left Tallulah's toys out in case visiting families want them
- Left the whiskey, barbecue, hot tub — full use of everything
Ongoing Management
- WhatsApp communication with tenant — friendly and informal
- Family member nearby for grass cutting and post collection
- Meter readings included in the price — no admin needed
The Emotional Side
People assume this must be gut-wrenching — handing your home to a stranger. For us, it was the opposite.
"Absolutely fine. We just look at the house and see imperfections. It doesn't feel like home. So it just feels like you're just handing someone somewhere to live."
— Leila
We renovated the cottage while Leila was pregnant. New kitchen, new bathroom, the works. But once it was done, all we could see were the imperfections. Every scuff on the wall. The gate falling off. The weeds in the garden. General maintenance that we didn't enjoy doing.
"I find stuff is bringing us unhappiness because it's always stuff that breaks. I don't like stuff. I don't like clutter in the house. When we were in the apartment we didn't need it."
— Leila
This might sound ungrateful. We know the house is someone's dream. A cottage in the countryside, a garden, a hot tub. But gratefulness doesn't equal happiness. Our heads just don't work that way. We're not country people, and owning a house full of stuff was making us miserable, not secure.
When you've spent 10 months living out of suitcases and loving every minute, a garden shed full of maintenance equipment feels like a prison sentence.
"I'm quite happy with one face cream and mascara and a pair of shorts and a bikini top and flip flops and I'm happy. I don't need stuff."
— Leila
Living in It While Prepping (with a Toddler)
This was the hardest part. Not emotionally — logistically.
Tallulah is 14 months old. Her entire existence is picking things up, throwing them on the floor, and pulling everything out of drawers. Trying to keep a house tidy for guests while she's dismantling it in real time is impossible.
Clean the house. Turn around. This happens. Every single time.
We tried. We cleaned the downstairs bedroom, laid out fresh sheets, got everything perfect. Then she found a way in and undid half of it before teatime.
Our solution: do the big stuff early (decluttering, tip runs, deep clean) and leave the final staging until the absolute last minute. The morning we left, we stripped the beds, put new bedding on, chucked the old bedding rather than trying to wash and dry it on travel day, and walked out the door.
Our staging strategy with a toddler
Don't try to keep the house guest-ready for days. Do all your decluttering, deep cleaning and admin in advance. Then leave the beds, the final wipe-down and the "hotel finish" until the morning you leave. If you're flying that evening, you have the whole day to do a couple of hours of final prep. It's less stressful than maintaining perfection with a toddler for a week.
The Departure Day
Both of us were still working that day. We'd deliberately cleared our calendars — zero meetings — but we were online, getting things done, while also preparing to leave the country.
Our flight was at 7pm. We stripped the beds in the morning, put on the new bedding, gave everything a final clean, loaded the car, and drove to the airport. We didn't cry. We didn't look back at the house and feel sentimental. We just left.
The honest truth? By the time we closed the front door, we couldn't wait to get out. We'd been counting down the days for weeks. Leaving felt like relief.
What We'd Do Differently
- Price properly from the start. We wasted months with a low price and a half-hearted listing. The moment we set a real price and wrote a proper profile, interest flooded in.
- Don't deep clean twice. We cleaned the kitchen a week before leaving and then had to do it again. With a toddler in the house, anything you clean will need doing again. Just do it once, on the last day.
- Buy new bedding earlier. We left this late and ended up rushing. Order it weeks in advance and keep it sealed until the morning you leave.
- Write the handbook as you go. Every time something comes up — how to work the boiler, which day the bins go out — write it down immediately rather than trying to remember it all at the end.
- Accept that the toddler will undo your work. Stop fighting it. Do the essentials, leave the staging to the last possible moment, and lower your expectations for the week before departure.
Is It Worth It?
For us, absolutely. The rental income funds our travel. The house is looked after. And we're not sitting in the countryside feeling miserable.
The work of getting it ready was a pain, but it was a few weeks of effort for months of freedom. If you're sitting in a house that doesn't feel like home, wondering whether you could just leave — you probably can. The logistics are manageable. The emotional part is easier than you think. And the financial model works if you price it right.
"What's the worst that can happen? We hate everything we're about to venture into, nothing works out, I lose my job. Well, we still got home to come home to and we rebuild and start again. That's the worst case. Why would we not enjoy it?"
— Leila
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you rent your home on Airbnb while travelling?
Yes. We listed our cottage on Airbnb and accepted a long-stay booking that covered our mortgage and bills. The key is proper pricing, a thorough profile, and clear communication with guests. It took a few months of trial and error before we got it right.
How do you prepare your house for Airbnb guests?
Deep clean, new bedding, fresh towels, a welcome hamper, cleaning products, a handbook covering everything from bins to WiFi, personal items in the loft, and multiple sets of keys. The full checklist is above.
Does renting your home on Airbnb cover the mortgage?
It can. Our first enquiries only covered costs, which we rejected. When we set a proper price, the income covered mortgage, bills, and left some profit. Don't underprice — it attracts worse guests and doesn't fund your travel.
How do you manage your property while abroad?
WhatsApp with the tenant for day-to-day, a family member nearby for grass and post, meter readings included in the price so no admin. Keep it simple and informal.
Is it hard to let go of your home emotionally?
Depends on how you feel about it. For us, the house never felt like home. Handing it over felt like relief. If you're emotionally attached, it'll be harder — but remember, it's still yours. You're renting it, not selling it.
Can you prep a house for guests with a toddler?
Yes, but it's a nightmare. Do the decluttering and deep clean early, then leave the final staging until the morning you leave. Don't try to keep it guest-ready for days with a toddler in the house — they will undo everything.
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Written on 7 March 2026, the day we left for Benidorm. This post is based on our own experience renting out a two-bed cottage in Wiltshire on Airbnb. No sponsorships, no partnerships — just what we actually did.